Question

amSuppose you are studying a recently discovered population of rock pocket mice woth dark-colored fir that lives on volcanic rock. You take a DNA sample from a member of this new population and determine the DNA sequence of a gene known to play a role in fir color. The sequence you get is identical to that of the same gene in another rock pocket mouse population with dark-colored fur that lives on a different patch of volcanic rock. Which of the following could explain this observation.

a- the mice in the two populations evolved from the same ancestral population

b- the volcanic rock caused the same mutation in each rock pocket mouse population, resulting in dark coloration

c- the same mutation spontaneously arose in the two different populations

d- all of thr above are possible

Answer 1

• Many animals can exhibit change in behavioral pattern or physical adaptation according to the change in their environment.
• These adaptations also help them to survive by abiding the theory of natural selection.
• Change in coat colour, helps animals to camouflage and blend with the environment. This helps them to survive better, especially against other predator animals feeding on them.
• The environmental and background colour plays an important role in such camouflage effects, the light emitted by the environment in different phases of light intensities, creates a variation in the blending of the coat colour of the mice with the environment.
• Mutations and adaptations by changing coat colour, has been significant for natural selection and the survival rate in mice.
• If DNA sequence is same for both the mice, the reason may be spontaneous mutation that could have arose in the population to help in adaptation.
• Common ancestry may also be the reason for sharing same DNA sequence.

Answer: a and c